


we've found ourselves a place (now we need people to fill it)

by pseudoanalytics



Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Found Family, Lunch, M/M, Married Couple, Post-Movie: Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018), an upbeat palate cleanser because i need a break from the angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-06
Updated: 2018-04-06
Packaged: 2019-04-19 01:29:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14226150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pseudoanalytics/pseuds/pseudoanalytics
Summary: "Wait," Newt said suspiciously. "How many people did you invite?"Hermann patted Newt's stomach to tell him to stand up. "The remaining staff of the PPDC and anyone from Shao Industries who is still in the country."Newt froze. "Hermann... We're gonna need a bigger house."





	we've found ourselves a place (now we need people to fill it)

**Author's Note:**

> may i offer you some fluff in these trying times?

"So I’m thinking lemonade," Newt said.

Hermann jolted. "Sorry, what was that?"

Newt rolled over so his face wasn’t pressed so far into thigh this time. He looked up from where he was laying, head in Hermann's lap. "I said I'm thinking lemonade."

"Oh. Yes. For this afternoon. That seems nice. It's certainly hot enough." Hermann shut his book and slid one hand into Newt's hair.

They were quiet for a minute. The porch swing they were on creaked whenever they went forward.

Newt leaned further into the hand scratching his scalp and stuck his own up to brush Hermann's cheek. "And maybe small sandwiches." His overeager fingers snagged the side of Hermann's fringe, and his hand was batted away.

"Well, I'm not making them. Do you know how tedious that will be?"

"Wait," Newt said suspiciously. "How many people did you invite?"

Hermann passed him his glasses and reached for his own cane, patting Newt's stomach to tell him to get up. "I assumed the remaining staff of the PPDC would be coming. And probably several people from Shao Industries."

"Dude, that's not a garden party anymore. That's like, a garden _crowd_."

Hermann shrugged as he stood and stretched his back. "We can’t pick and choose."

"Ok, that's sweet of you and all, but honestly, our house can fit forty people. Fifty tops."

"Make it last longer and have people come and go. Then not everyone will be here at once."

Newt huffed and kicked at a rock on the porch. "You know them. Most of the PPDC will just stay the whole time. We couldn't get Tendo to leave back when we had drinks in the _lab_. And that place was disgusting."

Hermann hummed behind him.

"And I know, _technically_ it was gross because of me. I guess chalk dust isn't really all that unsanitary, but I _know_ you dropped your toast on the lab floor one morning, and you totally still picked it up and ate it anyway even though you have no idea what's been over there."

Hermann stiffened. "I dropped it on _my_ side of the lab."

"Well, you aren't _always_ in the lab. Sometimes you go to bed and I'd just take advantage of the excess space."

"You did kaiju dissections on my side?"

"Mostly entrails and bowels, yeah. I don't want that shit getting all over _my_ side."

The look on Hermann's face was somehow murderous and fond simultaneously. It bent his mouth all funny and flat, and Newt kinda wanted to kiss it normal again.

Except oops! He totally could now.

He only got a quick peck in before Hermann pushed him back. "I have no idea how neither of us contracted some horrible disease from living in that place. Make fun of my toast all you want, but I saw you drink a saline solution accidentally, but when you noticed I'd seen, you kept drinking like it was intentional."

Newt laughed and stuck his face into Hermann's neck, swaying them in and out of the doorway. "I can't believe you remember that. I'd forgotten."

"Did that really happen? I was making it up. It sounded like something you'd do."

"No, that absolutely happened. The psychic ghost drift is at it again."

Hermann disengaged from Newt's octopus hug. "Come inside. It's too hot out here."

"What? No way." Newt spun and walked out of the shade and into the sunlight. "I mean, it's definitely warm, but if I was shirtless, I'd be just fine."

"Newton," Hermann said pointedly, "I can think of an excellent reason for you to be shirtless _inside_."

Newt blinked. " _Oh_. Well, why didn't you say so!" And he leaped the few short steps to pull Hermann into the house.

* * *

The garden party was predictably a disaster.

Tendo brought far too many bottles of champagne, and Jake made it his personal mission to put as much away as possible, much to Nate's chagrin.

The tiny sandwiches Newt had tried to make—until he lost interest—were falling apart, and people stopped taking individual sandwiches and started handpicking ingredients out of the pile instead.

One of the teenage rangers snapped a couple pictures of Raleigh’s sunglasses sunburn.

Hermann yelled at Newt when he caught him sipping straight from the lemonade pitcher, and all the guests from Shao Industries ended up having to sit on the front lawn because the house and backyard were packed.

Mako had been trying to make her way from the front with Liwen to Raleigh out back for nearly five minutes before Amara started talking with her and made her lose another fifteen.

A couple young J-Techs had hooked up Newt's speaker set, and Hermann couldn't hardly hear anything over the music blaring from the one he was sitting on.

"Having fun?" Newt asked, bounding over with his lemonade actually in a cup this time.

Hermann sighed as if he was extremely put upon. "I guess this just prepares me for how crowded our next event will be."

"Oh, definitely. I think we're gonna need a bigger house. Or like, two houses."

"I was thinking we could hold it at a park, but you're right. It's definitely more practical to move out of the place we _just_ bought so we can relocate to a whole apartment complex for us and our unruly friends."

Newt faked a derisive snort but accidentally choked on his drink instead.

A thin voice behind him interjected at that moment, "Um, excuse me? Dr. Gottlieb?"

"Yes?" Hermann and Newt answered simultaneously.

"Newton," Hermann snarled. "Would you stop doing that?"

"Okay, but it's technically half my name too."

"You refuse to respond to the title of doctor when it's _your_ name, but as soon as it's mine—"

"Hey, hey," interrupted Newt. "I think they were trying to talk here."

One of the new research assistants laughed nervously, holding out a book.

Hermann looked at it and blinked. "Is this an original copy of my first published research paper?"

The assistant smiled. "Yeah, I uh, I found it and couldn't help myself. You were a huge inspiration for me joining the PPDC. Could you sign the cover?"

Newt whistled. "You have no idea what you've just done, do you. That's just gonna go to his head, and now _he's_ gonna want a copy..."

"Newton, _he_ is standing right here. And I assure you I have no intention of getting a paperback copy of what I'd undoubtedly discover to be a terribly written paper."

"I'm sure it's not terrible. Just because our co-authored work outdid it—"

"Newton."

Hermann signed the front in that slow, precise way of his. Newt really didn't understand it. Everyone knew signatures weren't meant to be _legible_.

"Sorry to hear you're retiring," the assistant said.

"Oh man, we aren't retiring all the way or anything," Newt insisted at the same time that Hermann said, "We're only retiring from the front lines, but certainly not from science altogether."

They looked at each other.

"How long do you think _this_ retirement is going to last? To be honest, this is probably just going to end up being another holiday," Newt said.

"We really can't be trusted to entertain ourselves for long," Hermann added.

"Oh jeez. I'd probably... I don't know. Probably end up illegally ordering kaiju parts online, and Hermann might take up graffiting math gunk all over public spaces and—"

"That makes absolutely no sense. _You're_ the vandal. Not me."

"I drew your caricature on your chalkboard _one time_ , Hermann."

"It was awful! I thought it was Max Hansen!"

"Which is a compliment! Everyone loves Max!"

The traumatized assistant slipped away as they argued. Hermann stood up off the speaker to use his couple inches on Newt as leverage.

By the time they were practically shoving Tendo out the front door at three in the morning, they'd moved on to debating whose side of the lab was larger.

"Sometimes when you left early," Hermann said smugly, "I'd re-lay the tape further on your side of the room."

"Except that proves _nothing_ ," Newt retorted, poking Hermann in the chest, "because I'd retape the line closer to your side whenever I got a chance."

"You beautiful, genius, _obstinate_ man," breathed Hermann.

And Newt couldn't just let his mouth keep saying stuff like that when he could be kissing it silent instead.

* * *

They were still awake by the time the sun rose, and when they finally climbed back into bed to _sleep_ , Hermann was lamenting the total destruction of their attempt at a regular sleep schedule.

"Roll over. I'm the big spoon," Newt said, but Hermann pushed him over, despite his protests.

"I think you're right, Newton."

"About me being big spoon tonight? Hell yeah, I should be."

"I meant about the extra space."

Newt gave him a look over one shoulder.

"I think we should go to the planning office and see about adding a second story." Hermann took advantage of Newt's silence to kiss the nape of his neck where the tattoos started. He reached out and tugged Newt's glasses off and dropped them on the nightstand.

"So you're thinking about doing this more often? Entertaining?"

Hermann shrugged, gave Newt an eyeroll, and turned onto his other side. Newt's excited butt-wiggle as he got to be the big spoon made the concession worth it. "I'm not opposed to it."

"Cool man. Then I'm totally in." Newt licked a wet stripe up Hermann's neck to be obnoxious and got an elbow in the gut for his trouble. "We should get a dog."

"Absolutely not."

"A cat?"

"No."

"Okay, how about a lizard."

Hermann paused. "I'll think about it."

"Can we name it Otachi?"

"Newton, if you try to drift with our lizard, I won't let you buy one."

Newt grinned and stuck a couple kisses behind Hermann's ear.

"We're _totally_ getting a lizard."

**Author's Note:**

> let them all smile, please!
> 
> let them!!! be!!! happy!!!


End file.
